xymnovel Chapter 26 Ambush
Chapter 26 Ambush
Chao Gai harbored some resentment towards Wang Lun.
He clearly sensed Wang Lun's distrust of him, so when Wang Lun suggested that Chao Gai lead men to kidnap Master Du of Jizhou, he agreed despite his reluctance.
Because of his resentment, he only mustered two hundred soldiers and sent ten men as scouts, and then marched "mightily" towards Jizhou.
Now he only has Wu Yong and the three Ruan brothers under his command.
Liu Tang went to Yuncheng to find Song Jiang, but he has not returned for several days.
Gongsun Sheng... seems to have become Wang Lun's follower, and Wang Lun takes him everywhere he goes.
Astride his horse, he asked Wu Yong in a muffled voice, "What's your opinion on this robbery of Master Du?"
Wu Yong also looked somewhat worried: "Last time, Wang Lun... the chieftain burned down the Du family's house, and we robbed his mine. He has probably increased his guard now. We shouldn't have brought so few people with us on this trip."
Chao Gai said, "Wang Lun stormed Jizhou with only two men, killed the son of Master Du, and kidnapped the prefect of Jizhou, earning praise from the people of Jizhou for their fight against Liangshan. Am I, Chao Gai, inferior to him?"
Wu Yong sighed inwardly and said nothing more.
Things didn't go as he expected. He originally planned to use Lin Chong to kill Wang Lun and make Chao Gai the leader of Liangshan.
Unexpectedly, Lin Chong suddenly betrayed them, and Wang Lun also seemed like a completely different person. Liangshan was developing rapidly, and he and Chao Gai seemed superfluous in Liangshan.
Zhu Gui was in charge of the intelligence bureau, Du Qian was in charge of the right wing's finances and provisions, Song Wan was in charge of the reconstruction of Liangshan, and Lin Chong served as the chief instructor.
Even the three Ruan brothers became naval commanders and managed all the ships in Liangshan Marsh.
He and Chao Gai had nothing to do all day and could only sit from morning till night.
where is the problem?
Was Wu Yong, this "wise strategist," truly useless?
Not far from Liangshan Marsh, the scouts sent out in advance returned: "Reporting, Commander Chao, Master Du no longer lives in the city; his estate is five li south of Jizhou City."
Wu Yong frowned slightly: "South of the city? Then we'll have to go around Jizhou, which might not be a good idea."
Chao Gai asked, "Then what should we do?"
Wu Yong looked back at the two hundred men he had brought, half cavalry and half infantry. After thinking for a moment, he said, "It's still early. We need to take a longer route and make sure we are not discovered by the Jizhou government troops. We only have two hundred men, but Jizhou still has at least 1,800 troops. Adding Master Du's men, they have at least two thousand."
Chao Gai nodded and said, "That's for sure. If we encounter the soldiers of Jizhou, we'll have no choice but to run."
The group then deliberately avoided Jeju Island and left Lianshanbo in the morning. It wasn't until late afternoon that they could see Master Du's manor in the distance.
Chao Gai, observing from a distance, exclaimed, "This is much bigger than my estate!"
Wu Yong thought to himself, "Master Du is the richest man in Jizhou. What makes you, Chao Gai, the richest man?"
There were no guards outside Du Yuanwai's manor; at this hour, they should all be inside having their meal.
Chao Gai ordered his men to approach quietly. When they got close, he suddenly gave the order and led two hundred men to charge.
When they rushed into the manor, there were only a few servants inside. When they saw Chao Gai and his men storm in, they were so frightened that they couldn't even walk.
Wu Yong ordered, "Kill them all, don't let a single one escape."
After a fierce fight, the group discovered that the manor was completely empty, with nothing of value left, and that they had only killed about a dozen servants.
Chao Gai was still in a daze, but Wu Yong reacted faster and immediately shouted, "Oh no, we've fallen into a trap! Run!"
Chao Gai was also taken aback and quickly led the way to rush towards the door, only to find that hundreds of people had already gathered outside the gate, completely blocking the entrance.
We are already surrounded.
"What should we do?" Chao Gai panicked.
Ruan Xiaoer gripped his knife tightly and shouted, "What else can we do? Fight our way out!"
Wu Yong could only nod and say, "Now we can only break through the encirclement and escape to Liangshan Marsh."
The leaders then led their men out of the door, but the door was not wide, and the outside was already full of archers. Every one of them who went out died, and soon dozens of corpses lay at the door.
The crowd had no choice but to retreat.
Then they heard the sound of bowstrings, and archers outside fired a volley into the courtyard. The soldiers quickly waved their weapons to block, but they were not carrying shields and were wearing ordinary cloth clothes, not armor.
After just one volley of arrows, about twenty people had already died in the courtyard.
Chao Gai was furious, but there was nothing he could do.
Wu Yong had already rushed into the house, carried out a table, and shouted, "There are two more tables inside, go and bring them over, and stand in front of me."
Everyone rushed into the house to find something to hold them back, and just as Wu Yong had said, there were two tables inside.
Chao Gai shouted, "The table will block our way! Everyone, follow me and fight our way out!"
With three tables blocking their way, the arrows couldn't get through for a while. Chao Gai then ordered his men to rush into the enemy ranks and begin venting his anger by brandishing his sword.
The people blocking the entrance were Du Yuanwai's servants, all ordinary people who had not been trained.
Faced with the sudden outburst of Liangshan troops, they were thrown into disarray.
Under Chao Gai's fierce attack, the servants in front dared not meet him head-on and scattered. The Liangshan soldiers followed behind him, fighting and advancing, and broke out of the encirclement.
Chao Gai and the three Ruan brothers were all ruthless killers, and dozens of people died by their blades along the way.
Although there were several hundred servants, they dared not pursue too quickly, but followed slowly behind, occasionally firing a volley of arrows.
Chao Gai and Wu Yong led the Liangshan soldiers northward in a desperate escape.
Wu Yong ran for a while, panting, and said, "Brother, I have a bad feeling about this."
Chao Gai, also panting heavily, asked, "What's wrong?"
Wu Yong glanced at the pursuers behind him and said, "They... don't seem to be chasing or killing, but rather driving them away."
Chao Gai was suddenly alarmed. Under what circumstances would they be driven away? It must be when they were driven into the enemy's encirclement.
What other enemies are there?
As he was thinking, he saw countless soldiers emerge from the hillside ahead, all dressed in the uniforms of the Song Dynasty's imperial army, clad in armor, exuding an imposing aura.
Chao Gai shuddered: "This is terrible!"
The leader of the soldiers was Huang An, the military commissioner of Jizhou Prefecture. He rode a tall horse, holding a broadsword, and shouted: "I am Huang An, the military commissioner of Jizhou Prefecture. You Liangshan bandits, put down your weapons at once, and I will spare your lives."
Chao Gai gritted his teeth and said, "Let's head east. There's a small mountain to the east. Let's hide there and talk things out."
Even if Wu Yong was a "wise strategist," he had no other choice at this moment. Of the two hundred men they had brought, one hundred and fifty were now insufficient. Huang An had at least five or six hundred soldiers in front of them, and Du Yuanwai's pursuing troops numbered two or three hundred behind them. How could they possibly fight against them?
He gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, "Ruan Er, you pick twenty of the best brothers to follow us eastward and fight our way back. When we're halfway there, we'll turn west and go back to Liangshan Marsh to ask for help. Remember, as long as even one person is alive, you must go back for help. Our lives are in your hands."
Chao Gai nodded and said, "That's right, we can't all go up the mountain with me, otherwise we might all be wiped out."
At Huang An's command, the government troops surrounded and attacked.
Chao Gai led his men eastward and finally entered the mountains. By this time, he only had about a hundred men left, most of whom were wounded.
"Ah!" Chao Gai cried out, "Heaven is going to destroy me, Chao Gai!"